Transnational Technical Communication: English as a Business Lingua Franca in Engineering Workplaces

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Dec 2023

Transnational Technical Communication: English as a Business Lingua Franca in Engineering Workplaces

Amy Hodges ; Leslie Seawright

Abstract

Recent scholarship argues for increased attention to students’ linguistic diversity and intercultural communication competence. Our study examined the experiences of 10 working engineers who had graduated from an English-medium international branch campus in the Arabian Gulf. An analysis of their interviews reveals the complex role of English as a business lingua franca (BELF) in workplace communication. Interviewees’ reflections about their university experience indicate that they had not previously understood the full rhetorical and communicative nature of BELF. We provide implications for instructors who wish to provide methods that center intercultural professional communication and decenter English as a standardized, static language.

Journal: Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published: 2023-12-01
DOI: 10.1177/23294906231154860
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Topics: technical communication professional writing translingualism multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

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